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The new Battlefield game came out for the Playstation and I am hooked on this game. I’ve been happy with my big TV up until now. But the old TV just does not cut it for this new game. I’m going to have to upgrade and get the biggest flat screen high Def TV that my wallet can stand. I was already planning on getting the new Playstation 4 this month when it comes out, but now now I’m thinking I should spend that money on the new TV and just wait another 2 paychecks to get the Playstation.

I was impressed with the new Battlefield and tried my hand at it for a few rounds, trying to figure it out. Very impressed with the graphics. But then I headed over to my buddy TJ’s house and played it with him on his huge flatscreen and I was able to see things that I didn’t even know were part of the game until I saw it on TJ’s TV. That totally convinced me that my old TV needs to be retired and I want a new one.

This weekend I’ll hit all the electronics stores and look at picture quality and brands. Then I’ll check the prices against the local stores. But before I buy it, I’ll check Amazon, too. Last time I bought anything electronic the Amazon price was the best anywhere – even after paying for shipping. So that might be the way to go.

Usually I can not name very many comedians because I just don’t really do the comedy club scene and don’t watch that many movies. So how am I supposed to know who is out there being funny or not?

Well, my girl gave me a couple of DVDs for my birthday of this guy named Ron White. He is an old drunk Texan who is funny as hell. I mean, this old boy makes you fucking laugh your ass off! He rags on his rich wife, his dogs and even people who are fans. But mostly I like the way he talks about his brushes with the Law.

There’s a classic Ron White comedy bit where he gets arrested and they are doing the booking process and they ask him if he has any aliases or other names that people call him. Well, Ron decides to be a smart ass and says, “They call me Tater Salad.” If you ever have a chance to hear that DVD or that clip on Youtube – do it. Funny as hell!

Had to get to the grocery store today and I was a little pissed off to see a big box of pumpkins sitting out on the damn sidewalk already. Halloween is still a fucking month away and already they are putting out pumpkins. I tell you what – it might be getting a little chilly at night now, but it’s too hot for carving pumpkins this early. If you cut open a pumpkin now and carve that sonofabitch, it’s going to rot before any trick or treaters ever see the damn thing.

If you really must buy a damn pumpkin in September, do me a favor and do not cut into the sonofabitch for at least two more weeks. And keep it someplace cool or it will rot whether you cut into or not. But in my opinion, the last week of September is too fucking early to be selling pumpkins at the grocery stores.

Having a second car might be a good idea, now that my car has passed the 100,000 mile mark. I would like a cheap, used car that I can keep on hand in case my regular car has any trouble. I don’t like to feel stranded or dependent on just one car. There is a decent little Toyota for sale. The owner says the only thing wrong is the air conditioning does not work. I would think that is easy enough to get fixed. I looked up the cost of a toyota ac compressor, and it’s not as expensive as I thought it might be.

I’ve been trolling Craigslist for a used car and not having much luck. I was hoping to find something that is a few years old but in good running condition. Most of the cars listed are either big junkers or cars that are so fucked up that the dealerships probably would not give the owner much of a trade in allowance, so they decided to try to get more money for them on their own. Dealerships are notorious for unfair and deceptive selling practices. I’ve tried 3 or 4 times to work with a damned salesperson at a dealership, but I always leave feeling violated and deceived. So I’ve never actually bought a brand new car off a dealer lot in my life. I think the main thing about using a web site like Craigslist to find a car is all about the timing. One day the car you want has not been listed yet, and another day you log in and Voila! There is the car!

Years ago I worked with a real estate broker who had a contract with a large national chain of movie theaters. She would always be flying all over the damned country to scout new locations for the ever growing theater chain. The last trip that she took while I was at the company was to the Rio Grande Valley. So this gave me an opportunity to learn a little about the most southern cities in Texas, but just enough to be dangerous.

The area just north of the border with Mexico known as the Rio Grande Valley includes the cities of Edinburg, McAllen, Weslaco and Harlingen. If you include the cities just south of the border in Mexico, this area has a substantial population of over 2 million people. Harlingen is the easternmost city of the four, at the intersection of Highway 77 and Highway 83. This appears to be the retail hub of the valley, with retail sales per capita above $8,000. This is a very healthy number and made the area very attractive to the movie theater executives.

There is so much shit going on when real estate is involved, that so many people don’t even realize is going on, that It can and does, take years and years of research and meetings before any shovel (or other heavy duty equipment) hits the ground to start the actual building on the site. I learned so much at that job. If the market hadn’t taken such a fucking dive back in the fucked up year or 2007 I just might have continued on with that type of career path, with that particular company or gone out on my own by now.. Guess we will never know.